Witchy Woman
by Scandalacious Intentions
Summary: It wasn’t a fear of death that troubled her but having no control over a situation made her so angry she wanted to hit out at someone but the only soul in sight was the remarkable man leading her along the twisting corridors...


**Disclaimer: I own nothing; zilch. Oh no. Actually I own a broomstick and my witch's hat and my black cloak so that now when I sing **_**Defying Gravity**_** I do it in full costume with a painted green face. It's terrifying the neighbours.**

**A/N: I was listening to **_**Witchy Woman**_** and had the idea. Oh and this happens between '**_**I'm Not That Girl (Reprise)' **_**and '**_**As Long As You're Mine**_**' but that's obvious really. I'm pointing it out because I'm the sort of person who would wonder about it and I can't be the only one out there…me and my brain cell would get lonely.**

Despite the rapid beating of her heart and adrenaline coursing through her, Elphaba still thought she was dreaming. It had to be a dream; nothing this good ever happened to her, at least not without ironically bad consequences. Maybe they had yet to come.

No. There would be time for misgivings later. At this moment she had to concentrate on getting out of this place alive.

It wasn't a fear of death that troubled her but having no control over a situation made her so angry she wanted to hit out at someone. Unfortunately, and at the same time luckily, the only soul in sight was the remarkable man leading her along the twisting corridors of the Emerald Palace.

"Yero, we'll be seen." she whispered, unnerved by the echoes such a small sound made.

"For Oz's sake, keep your hood up and relax. That's all part of the plan."

Forgetting about having to stay quiet she shrieked, "_What_?"

"We won't need to be _seen _if you keep screaming at me." hissed Fiyero, swinging round to face her, still clasping her hand as though afraid she would bolt. "I'm relying on Glinda not wanting to broadcast this. It's been what? Five minutes? There won't be a price on my head yet. The more people see me, the less they believe the rumours and the longer we have to get out of here."

"Are you forgetting you're _with_ me. It's not going to dispel the rumours. It's going to make everything so much worse. If you hadn't noticed, I don't blend into a crowd easily."

"That's why I'm telling you to keep your hood up. I know how much you hate it, but would you please just do what I'm asking you to? Just this once?"

Elphaba smiled, finding it impossible to stay mad at him, and reluctantly obeyed, still protesting, "I can't see!" but with none of her former resistance.

"You don't need to see." Fiyero retaliated, now having to drag her along behind him, secretly relieved that she couldn't. She would never give her consent if she knew where they were going. He would have to tell her eventually, of course, but the longer he could put that off, the better.

Elphaba, noticing they had come to a sudden halt, resisted the urge to throw back her hood to see what was going on. She leant forward slightly and whispered; "Why have we stopped?", terrified that Fiyero had been wrong.

"I've got to collect some stuff."

"Don't be ridiculous! We'll be caught."

"In a Gale Forcer's uniform I'll be a walking target! And besides, we won't be caught. It's the last place they expect me to be."

"So you've been living in a library?"

"You're so mean to me." he said, fighting back laughter. "At least I've started to go in and pretend to read."

"_Pretend _to read? What have you been doing in there?"

"Hiding from Glinda and her best friends, the press."

Elphaba clicked her tongue. "I don't know why I'm letting you do this but if you're going in then hurry up."

"You can take the cloak off for a while if you want. No-one will be up here."

"Thank Oz for that." she muttered, tired of being blind to all around her and relieved to remove the heavy garment.

What she saw as she peered in after Fiyero took her breath away. Propaganda posters of her covered most of a wall. She gasped, and followed him in.

"What is this place?"

"My study and I swear to Oz I am _not_ a stalker. They're the only pictures I have."

Elphaba obviously believed him as she had relaxed enough to scan his bookshelves. She trailed a finger down the spine of a tatty book with a blood red cover. "How did you get this?" she asked, pulling it out and flicking through its gold leafed pages. "It's been banned across Oz and you've got in the Wizard's palace! You're a fool. If anyone found out you were reading this they'd see you swing for it."

"I don't read it. I don't even know what it's about. It looked good and cost a lot and that's my only specification."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Its the worst anti-Wizard literature in print." She shook her head in disbelief and returned it to his shelf. "I couldn't steal some books could I?"

"Why not empty the room?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "It's only several suitcases worth. We could just slip past the guards and hey, maybe if we're lucky they'll carry some to the nearest station."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Where are we going anyway?"

"The Vinkus. Where else? Can the broom carry two people?"

"Of course it can."

"Good. I was counting on that." said Fiyero, beaming at her and throwing open the western window.

"For someone who claims that he never uses his brain, you've really thought this through."

"Well I've only been dreaming about this for the past two years. It started out as a daydream and grew into a fully fledged escape plan. How soon can we..?"

"Yero! Stop! Will you just..?"

"…Get there? It's a long way and…"

"Stop talking? Fiyero! Shut up!"

"Alright." snapped Fiyero, rolling his eyes. "What's the matter _now_?"

"_Are _we a 'we'?"

"You make no sense…at _all_…ever."

"You and Glinda…well, you love each other. Why are you doing this?"

"Glinda's too in love with herself to love anyone else."

"That's not true!"

"She loves me for _what _I am, not _who _I am. I love her, of course I love her, but there's more than _one _kind of love. I'd jump into the fiery pits to save her but I can't marry her. It's better this way. It'll hurt her a lot less than marrying her when I'm head over heels, hopelessly in love with someone else."

An uneasy silence hung in the air. Elphaba's vision blurred and she stared, wide-eyed, for what felt like forever. "Me?" she finally whispered, unable to look at the wonderful, beautiful and undeniably good man before her.

"Yeah." he answered in a voice thick with emotion at the sight of the tears gathering in her eyes. In an attempt to console her and lighten the mood he added, "It would never have worked between me and Glinda. For starters, she's a Gemini."

"How long have you known?"

"Since I met her. She told me her birthday was…ow!"

"It didn't hurt. Don't be such a drama queen. I meant how long have you known that you didn't love her, you fool?"

"Let me think…"

"Now don't strain yourself." warned Elphaba, unable to resist sarcasm.

"For the last two years I've collected news clippings, I've torn down propaganda posters and pinned them up in my study. I've still got a piece of your cloak that tore off in a bush. I see you places and you're not there. My keys are missing, it's Elphie. The OzDust picture's been handled, it's Elphie. The curtain moves, it's Elphie. In short, I love you and I always will and if you don't love me then…then I'll just have to go into hibernation and I don't know…earn a pittance working as a Muchkin's scarecrow or something. Come on, we've wasted enough time already. You're the only one who can make that thing fly so get moving."

Barely resisting the urge to have an emotional break down, Elphaba noticed that he still looked distastefully at the broom and smirked. "Don't tell me that the mighty prince of the Vinkus is afraid of a glorified sweeping brush?"

"I'm not _afraid_ of it. I'm just a little dubious."

"When did you learn words like dubious? In fact, when did you learn _any_ word over three syllables?" she asked, flinging her leg over the broom with as much grace as a drunken gazelle and gesturing for him to follow her.

"Something tells me this is going to be a long night." he muttered to nobody in particular.

"What?"

"Nothing."


End file.
